Click HERE for Names, terms and dates of the topic on Quizlet.
There were 13 original colonies on the east coast of the present day USA. These were:
The New England colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut;
The Middle colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware;
The Southern colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
The 13 states were established by the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.
Each state in the USA has its own: abbreviation, state capital, and symbols such as a state flag, a state bird, a state tree, a state flower and a state song. To learn more about the above click HERE.
Some facts about states
Play this game on state name abbreviations. Can you solve them all?
ALASKA (AK):
- the largest state of the USA;
- there is Mt McKinley, the highest point in the USA (or Mt Denali in Denali National Park; 6,187 m) – 17 out of the 20 most highest points of the USA are located in Alaska;
- it’s the coldest state;
- fishing, mining and oil industries are important in Alaska;
- it’s the “Bear Country”.
How to photograph bears:
FLORIDA (FL):
- the “Sunshine State”;
- millions of Americans and tourists from all over the world come to its sandy beaches on vacation (= BrE: holiday);
- FL is home to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Disney World and Everglades National Park where alligators live in the swamps.
WASHINGTON (WA)
- named in the honor of the first American president, George Washington;
- WA’s state capital is Olympia;
- WA’s most important industry is forestry: a new tree is planted for each tree that is cut down, so the state has beautiful forests;
- orchards are important, too – WA is the no.1 in the USA for apples and pears;
- rivers are also important – 40 different kinds of fish live in them, the most popular is the salmon.
HAWAII (HI)
- it is not a mainland state since it’s located in the Pacific Ocean;
- it consists of 8 islands and each island has its own flower and color;
- it is the only state that has its own time-zone called Hawaiian-Aleutian;
- its capital city is Honolulu on Oahu Island;
- the only US state that grows coffee;
- from east to west HI is the widest state.
TEXAS (TX)
- the largest mainland state in the USA;
- home to cowboys and lots of ranches (the King Ranch is larger than the state of Rhode Island, the smallest US state);
- oil mining is very important in TX as well as agriculture, cattle and beef production;
- it is the biggest producer of wool in the USA;
- TX has a unique jam (=jelly) made of jalapeno, a spicy pepper.
MINNESOTA (MN)
- the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” – in fact there are more than 11,000 lakes;
- MN locates the source of Mississippi River (in Lake Itasca);
- it has the second largest shopping mall in the USA called “Mall of America” that is home to an indoor theme park (Nickelodeon Universe) and Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium.
A 5-minute journey on the Mississippi from its source to its delta.
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